Happy Independence Day, U.S.A.!

Happy Independence Day! Whitman was a strong influence on John Dos Passos. I’ve nearly finishing reading Leaves of Grass and then I’m on to Democratic Vistas. I’m enjoying the read so far. It’s wonderful to sense that the nation is counting a bumper crop, when the news today suggests something more reminiscent of utter disaster.

“The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem…One sees it must indeed own the riches of the summer and winter, and need never be bankrupt while corn grows from the ground or the orchards drop apples or the bays contain fish…” — Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Events

The 2018 John Dos Passos Society Conference will be June 20-22 at the Geographical Society of Lisbon. Please send an English-language abstract of 250-300 words and a brief CV to both Aaron Shaheen and Mário Avelar at aaron-shaheen@utc.edu and mario.carlos.avelar@gmail.com respectively by February 9, 2018. Graduate students must submit a full paper by February 28th in order to be considered for supplemental travel funds. Make note of any A/V requests in your abstract. The conference will be exclusively in English.

Artwork

Quotes

“About style—I think that reading people in order to get ‘style’ from them is rather soft-headed. Your style is like the color of your hair or the cut of your pants—half accident, half act of God—to take thought to change or improve it results usually in rank affectation.”